Exclusive News: Guitar Hero: Nirvana and The Beatles: Rock Band

As the Guitar Hero and Rock Band universes expand, new details have emerged about the two latest editions; Guitar Hero: Nirvana and The Beatles: Rock Band


For the first time ever, Guitar Hero: Nirvana will include special instruments and features that are exclusive to the title. Included with the game will be a .12 gauge shotgun controller so that players can now commit suicide when the bands "fame" meter becomes too high to handle. This new "fame" meter will increase with each successfully completed song until it reaches a red zone. When the red zone is reached, the Kurt Cobain avatar will inject cocaine into his veins and wait for the player to pull the shotgun trigger, thus earning the player a game over.

Other features include a "bitch slap Courtney Love" mini game and an "intervention" feature. The intervention feature consists of a thirty minute break from playing music while band members and friends try and coax Cobain to give up drugs. This intervention feature happens every 2 successfully completed songs and makes up roughly 75% of game play.


The Beatles: Rock Band, which will be released September 9th, is the first time the Rock Band series has expanded beyond a numerical determinant, featuring multiple bands, into a single band format. The Beatles: Rock Band will feature over 30 songs, however most of the game play will instead focus on the "inner workings" of the legendary rock group the Beatles. Features include a random "quit" variable which causes a random group member to quit the band at any given point during the game. This causes the corresponding controller to go dead until the member can be convinced to rejoin the band.

Another new option in the game is the ability to perform and create "on drugs." Money earned during the performances can be used to purchase over 50 different real life drugs including heroin, LSD, acid and marijuana. Using the drugs during shows can cause different effects, from a "fuzzy" screen to the notes being reversed. Players also have the ability to "spike" their opponents characters in order to make the game more challenging. The drugs also play a key part in completing the game. Unlike the other versions of Rock Band, not all the songs can be unlocked by simply finishing all the songs, instead certain songs can only be unlocked by using certain combinations of drugs, thus releasing the "creative" energies needed to "write" the songs.

Other lesser options include a "Ridicule Ringo" mini game, in which the goal is to make him realize that he has very little talent and is basically just living off the other members genius and a Yoko Ono Band Destroyer.